AGI – Fernando Villavicencioone of the candidates in the presidential elections in Ecuadorwas shot dead at the end of a rally. The local media reported it. The 59-year-old journalist was one of eight candidates in the August 20 presidential election. Interior Minister Juan Zapata confirmed the news.
Villavicencio, convinced detractor of the former president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), was moving under police protection in the face of threats received weeks earlier. In the attack, which took place in the crowded and central area of Quito, they remained injured 9 other people.
Among the injured are another presidential candidate and two policemen, said the public prosecutor’s office, which together with the police is collecting evidence at the crime scene and in the medical center where the victims were taken. The alleged perpetrator died after a shootout with security personnel, according to the Attorney General’s Office. of Ecuador
According to local media, special agents were investigating the possibility that an explosive device had been planted at the rally site where the candidate was holding an election campaign event. Villavicencio’s murder occurred at a time when the country is undergoing an escalation of violence due to the actions of criminal gangs. The president of Ecuador Guillermo Lasso he expressed his dismay at the killing of presidential candidate Villavicencio and promised that the crime would not go unpunished.
© STR / AFP
A suspect arrested after the murder
“Outraged and dismayed by the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. My sympathy and condolences to his wife and daughters. For his memory and for his fight, I assure you that this crime will not go unpunished,” he wrote Lasso on social media.
Lasso also reported that he had convened a meeting at the Carondelet presidential palace in the historic center of Quito of the so-called Security Cabinet, made up of executive authorities and other state functions. “The Security Cabinet will meet in a few minutes in Carondelet. I asked the president of the Cne (National Electoral Council), Diana Atamaint; the state attorney general, Diana Salazar; the president of the National Court of Justice, Ivan Saquicela; and other state authorities to attend this meeting as an urgent matter to address this event that has shocked the country,” Lasso said.
Ecuador’s presidential candidates in the upcoming August 20 extraordinary general elections have expressed shock and outrage at the murder of their rival Villavicencio, who was shot as he left an election rally in Quito. Minutes after the death of the journalist and former deputy was confirmed, the other seven presidential candidates expressed their condolences and solidarity with Villavicencio’s family, friends and loved ones.
© STRINGER / AFP
Former Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner expressed his “deepest condolences and deepest condolences” and wished “God rest in peace”. “Our country has gotten out of hand,” said Sonnenholzner in reference to the security problems in Ecuador, which practically monopolized the debate during the electoral campaign.
Luisa Gonza’lez, candidate of Revolucio’n Ciudadana, the party led by former president Correa, also said she received “with indignation, impotence and deep sadness the terrible news of the attack that led to the death of Fernando Villavicencio” .
“This cowardly act will not go unpunished,” Gonzalez said of Villavicencio, who had established himself as one of former President Correa’s main detractors with allegations of corruption involving his administration.
State of emergency declared, elections confirmed on the 20th
The outgoing president, Guillermo Lasso declared it two-month state of emergencybut guaranteed that the elections expected on August 20th will be held. “The Armed Forces are now mobilized throughout the country to ensure the safety of citizens, the tranquility of the country and the free and democratic elections of August 20,” Lasso said in a speech broadcast on YouTube.
The president also declared three days of national mourning “to honor the memory of a patriot, Fernando Villavicencio Valencia”. The centrist politician and anti-corruption crusader, who had complained of receiving threats against himself and his team, was ranked the second most popular candidate in the presidential race, according to recent opinion polls.
One of the alleged attackers was shot and killed by security personnel. Prosecutors also said six other suspects were arrested in raids carried out in southern Quito and a nearby city.
2023-08-10 12:15:00
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